Fireworks stands hit with flood of bogus bills

S.J. charities suffer hundreds in losses in counterfeit purchases

STOCKTON - At least eight charity fireworks booths staffed by volunteers raising funds for their agencies have been stuck with counterfeit currency over the past three days, amounting to hundreds of dollars in losses.

STOCKTON - At least eight charity fireworks booths staffed by volunteers raising funds for their agencies have been stuck with counterfeit currency over the past three days, amounting to hundreds of dollars in losses.

One of the hardest hit, a TNT Fireworks booth in the Costco parking lot along Hammer Lane operated by the Community Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, took in $500 in bogus bills before they realized what was happening.

The booth volunteers used standard safeguards on all large currency, looking for red and blue fibers in the paper and using a special pen to mark the bills. It wasn't until the bank's scanner kicked out two counterfeit $100 bills Monday morning that they realized they had been scammed.

"It's disheartening. We have volunteers that have gone through training. We have the cost of the booth and the fireworks we still have to pay for," said Bonnie Hamma, operations manager at the Center for the Blind that has provided free services to Stockton's visually impaired for decades.

Estimates were the center lost $700 in cash and products.

On Monday afternoon, a customer attempted to make a purchase with a $50 bill. A volunteer aware of the scam suspected the bill of being a fake and told the customer he was going to keep the bill and call police without giving the customer any fireworks. The customer then simply said, "I understand," and quickly walked to his car.

Other charity booth nonprofits that have been hit, according to the operators and a spokesman for TNT Fireworks, include:

» Bread of Life.

» Holy Cross United Methodist Church.

» Kiwanis Club.

» Knights of Columbus.

» Presentation Catholic Church.

» San Joaquin Junior Golf Foundation.

» A Phantom Fireworks booth on Country Club Boulevard near Interstate 5.

Reports were still being compiled by the Stockton Police Department on Monday afternoon.

Officer Joe Silva could not say how many charities have been victimized. However, he did reiterate the importance of reporting the crime as soon as possible.

"We don't want anyone to confront a suspect. When you see or recognize a bill as fake, get a good description of the suspect and their car, then call police," Silva said.

"These booths fund programs that provide services to families and children throughout the year. People are definitely taking advantage of that situation," he said.

Dennis Revell, a spokesman for TNT, which provides the legal fireworks for many of the nonprofit booths in Stockton, said his office was first made aware Sunday afternoon of the counterfeit $100 and $50 bills circulating.

TNT alerted the Secret Service and made a report to the police.

"We acted within 45 minutes of being alerted," Revell said. The company also made copies of the serial numbers on the passed bills and distributed those to its vendors as well as passing the information along to its chief competitor, Phantom Fireworks, he said.

"They are using actual currency that they washed out and copied over. The tiny red and blue fibers are there. Those are the hardest types of currency to detect," Revell said.

"We will do everything we can to put a stop to this and help the nonprofit groups," Revell said.

Contact reporter Joe Goldeen at (209) 546-8278 or jgoldeen@recordnet.com. Follow him at recordnet.com/goldeenblog and on Twitter @joegoldeen.